


The Matchmaker

by MaxWrite



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Frottage, M/M, Voyeurism (sort of)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-09-28
Updated: 2009-09-28
Packaged: 2017-10-18 13:36:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,910
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/189416
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaxWrite/pseuds/MaxWrite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hikaru talks to his plants because he believes it does them good. He never thought it might be good for him too.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Matchmaker

"It's not that I can't get laid," Hikaru said matter-of-factly as he spritzed a precisely measured mixture of water and nutrients onto his favorite plant. "That's not the point. The point is I'm not that kind of guy. I don't just go out and 'get laid'. It's not my style. And when I set my sights on someone, that's it. I'm focused. I couldn't sleep with someone else now if my life depended on it."

With a sigh, Hikaru lowered the spray bottle to his side and wiped sweat from his brow as he surveyed the rather large plant before him. Both he and it were standing in the moist, hot air of the _Enterprise's_ greenhouse. The plant stood at least two feet above his head and resembled a flytrap-type plant on growth hormones, with a multitude of tentacles that, at the moment, lay nestled in the dirt around the plant's base. The entire thing was an unsettling shade of purple, except for the inside of its mouth, which was an ashy black, and all up and down its thick trunk were little purple bulbs that looked like they were supposed to open up and bloom into little flowers, but they'd never shown any signs of blooming into anything even though the plant had been on the _Enterprise_ for years. It really wasn't the most aesthetically pleasing specimen Hikaru had in the greenhouse, but for reasons Hikaru could never quite explain to anyone it was, by far, his favorite.

He'd named it Bisley.

Hikaru cocked his head and frowned, still examining Bisley's color and sheen. Not quite right yet. He continued spritzing.

"Yeah, it's been a while for me, I guess," he went on as though Bisley had asked a question. "But I'm okay with that. I'm pretty much stuck until I can get over him, and it's fine, really, I've gone for long stretches without sex. I don't _need_ it. I'm not an animal." Hikaru chuckled softly and tried to ignore the stiffness in his neck. Bisley emitted a low, rumbly purr and seemed to cock its head slightly to the right. "I am not tense," Hikaru said firmly. "I'm fine, honest. I'm just... tired or... something... Shut up."

"Who are you talking to, Hikaru?" asked a voice from behind. Hikaru stopped spritzing and glanced over his shoulder to find Pavel striding toward him looking confused. Hikaru grinned broadly and turned to face him.

"Pavel! Glad you could come. I'd like you to meet Bisley. Bisley, this is Pavel."

Pavel came to a halt before the giant plant and eyed it warily. Bisley's head, which had turned in Pavel's direction and come to an eerie halt, was just about the right size to fit Pavel entirely inside it if Pavel curled up real tight, and Bisley was plenty strong enough to make Pavel do just that if it wanted to. Pavel seemed to sense that he was outmatched and instinctively took a step back.

"He won't hurt you," Hikaru said with another little chuckle. "He's a Telsian Sentry Plant and he's very sweet. My favorite, actually."

"Eh," Pavel said, scratching at the back of his neck and surveying Bisley skeptically. "This plant is who you were talking to?"

"Yeah," Hikaru replied, putting his hands on his hips and gazing up at Bisley with a soft smile on his face. "He likes it when I talk to him."

Pavel glanced at him. " _He_?"

"Yeah. At least, I think he's a he. Feels kinda like a he."

The two of them stared up at Bisley for a moment in silence, meanwhile Bisley seemed to stare right back, mostly at Pavel.

"It doesn't have eyes, does it?" asked Pavel.

"Nah... well... I don't think he does. Not much is known about his species."

"I think it is looking at me."

Hikaru laughed. "No, he's not."

"Yes," Pavel nodded, taking another step back. "I think so."

"Well, maybe he likes you. I talk about you to him a lot, you know."

Pavel looked at Hikaru curiously. "You do?"

"Oh, yeah. I talk about a lot of things with him, but you come up a lot 'cause, uh... I guess 'cause we're roommates. We work together, we live together. You're a big part of my life."

"Oh." Pavel looked up at the plant again, his expression softening a bit. "And he likes to hear about me?"

"Oh, so _now_ he's a he to you, huh?"

Pavel blushed. "I never said he wasn't."

"Uh-huh. Well, yeah, he seems to like hearing about you. Hasn't complained yet."

Pavel stared at Bisley, seeming to contemplate how Hikaru would know if the plant had a complaint. "So, this is what you do by yourself all the time, eh? What do you tell him about me?"

"Oh, this and that," Hikaru said vaguely as he turned away and bent to get his hands in Bisley's dirt. He set the spray bottle down on the floor by the giant pot and then stuck his hands in the black earth surrounding Bisley's purple trunk. "Funny things you say, things you talk about in your sleep, that time you fell out of bed in the middle of the night..."

Hikaru heard Pavel laugh behind him. "I am glad is only the plant you are telling these things, Hikaru."

Hikaru chuckled too. "I wouldn't tell anyone else." He then straightened up again and wiped a bit of sweat from his brow with the back of his hand.

"Oh," said Pavel, looking at his forehead. "You have dirt on your face now."

"Oh, do I? Shit." Hikaru glanced around, looking for a clean cloth, but the only one nearby was covered in dirt.

"Here, I can do it," Pavel said, stepping closer without a second thought. Hikaru froze, stiffened a bit. He remained calm on the outside, but his insides were going haywire, his stomach doing unpleasant flips and his hands sending threatening messages to his brain, telling it that they were going to reach out and do something very, very stupid any second now if Hikaru's brain didn't make his feet back him away from Pavel.

Pavel came right up, eyes focused on Hikaru's forehead, reached up and gently began brushing the dirt away. Hikaru took the opportunity to stare at Pavel's face, at his pretty eyes and long lashes, his cute little nose and inviting, pink mouth. He was already starting to sweat in the heat of the greenhouse, his skin beginning to glow with a lovely, dewy sheen. All Hikaru wanted to do was kiss him, but every instinct he had, all but the one, said a very clear "no".

Was it any wonder Hikaru spent so much time with plants? Plants, he understood; they were uncomplicated, straightforward. You knew when they needed food or water and when they didn't. You knew what to do to them and what not to do. There was no guesswork.

Humans, on the other hand... Hikaru's friends and family always said that his love life suffered because of his hobbies, but, truth be told, Hikaru opted to focus on work and hobbies rather than sex and dating because it was just easier. Here was Pavel, sweet, gorgeous Pavel, brushing dirt off his forehead and making his body completely freak out by smelling all clean and sexy, making Hikaru's hands want to betray him, and all of Hikaru's common sense was telling him no, don't, _flee_.

And then there was that one opposing instinct, and it, on its own, was enough rival every last ounce of Hikaru's common sense.

It was maddening.

Hikaru swallowed hard and averted his eyes. "Thank you, Pavel, but I'm sure it's fine."

"No, no, just a bit more," Pavel murmured, his warm breath wafting over Hikaru's face. Hikaru shut his eyes and clenched his jaw, trying to will his body to calm down. Just a few more seconds...

But then something happened that neither of them expected. A gentle nudge from behind pushed Hikaru forward, right up against Pavel. His arms instinctively went up and around Pavel's body to keep Pavel from being knocked over. Pavel gasped and his own hands flew up to grip Hikaru's arms. They managed not to fall over, and stood there in each other's arms, staring wide-eyed at one another.

"You okay?" Hikaru asked.

"Yes. What was that?" Pavel leaned to the right and looked past Hikaru's head at Bisley. Hikaru followed his eyes, twisting around, and found one of Bisley's tentacles protruding, pointing towards them, frozen in mid-air when it had been curled peacefully at Bisley's base moments before.

"Bisley," Hikaru said warningly. "Bad."

"He pushed you?" Pavel asked in alarm. "Why? Why would he do that?"

Hikaru wondered too. Was Bisley... No, couldn't be. Bisley wasn't sentient.

"I'm sure it was nothing," Hikaru said, releasing Pavel, with much protesting on the part of his strongest instinct, and stepping back. He picked up the dirt-stained cloth sitting on one of the plant-laden tables and wiped his hands as best he could, frowning at the dirty hand prints he'd left on Pavel's otherwise clean shirt. Pavel noticed the prints too and smiled.

"Sorry about that," Hikaru said.

"Is okay." Pavel looked up at Bisley, once again very wary. "Perhaps I should go. I am not sure he likes me."

Hikaru smiled. "He likes you just fine, Pavel."

Pavel began to inch away. "I don't think so. I would like you to show me the greenhouse, like you promised, but... maybe some other time."

"Well, all right." Hikaru didn't bother trying to stop him even though he didn't really want Pavel to go. He wanted Pavel to stay and wander the greenhouse with him, looking at all the exotic plant species. He wanted to listen to Pavel's endless questions about this plant and that plant, he wanted to fill Pavel's curly head with the knowledge that he, himself, loved so dearly. It would have been a pleasure, because Pavel was endlessly curious, absorbed information like a sponge and had an enchanting sense of wonder about everything. He was... There simply weren't words for what Pavel was.

Well, at the moment what Pavel was, was stepping cautiously away from Bisley with one eye narrowed as he kept close watch on Bisley's tentacles. Hikaru's tormented heart was momentarily distracted by the rather comical image of his genius roommate being chased away by an overgrown plant. The part of Hikaru that was actually kind of relieved that Pavel was leaving – the nervous, uncertain, freaked out part – was also distracted, and Hikaru had to laugh.

"Pavel, it's fine, really. Come on back."

"I am... uneasy," Pavel muttered.

"Well, that much is clear. We can go look at other plants. Bisley's only one of them, there are tons of others."

Pavel opened his mouth to answer, but before any words could come out, there was a flash of purple, a yelp, and the next thing Hikaru knew Pavel had been yanked toward Bisley and was now wrapped up in one of Bisley's tentacles, looking terrified.

"Oh," Hikaru said, dropping the cloth he'd been holding. "Oh, shit. Don't move."

Pavel frowned at him. "And how exactly would I go about _moving_ , Hikaru?"

"You know what I mean!"

Hikaru slowly approached, looking from Pavel's face to Bisley's head towering above them. "Bisley. You're being very bad right now. Let Pavel go."

"He knows me," Pavel said, struggling against his tentacle restraint. "He knows me from your stories. He knows that I leave my dirty laundry on the floor and that I snore and keep you awake and that I crack my knuckles and annoy you, and now he is exacting revenge in your honor."

"Pavel, he's a plant, he can't _exact revenge_. That's ridiculous."

"He knows who I am. He looked at me when I came in, his head followed me as I tried to leave!"

Hikaru stopped before Pavel and Bisley and surveyed them, trying to figure out how to get Pavel out without damaging Bisley. "Is he hurting you?"

"What? Uh..." Pavel wriggled around a bit, testing. "No, not exactly, but I would not call this comfortable, either."

"Uh-huh." Hikaru frowned up at Bisley. "I wonder... Bisley? If Pavel promises to stay, will you let him go?"

There was a silent moment during which Pavel frowned incredulously at Hikaru, but Hikaru ignored him, staring intently at the plant. If his hunch was correct... god, that meant that Bisley _was_ sentient.

Bisley quivered slightly. Hikaru had no idea what that meant, but then Bisley's head dipped down a few inches, paused and then raised back up to its original position.

"Holy fucking shit," Hikaru breathed.

"What? What is he doing now?"

"He... he just nodded." Hikaru met Pavel's eyes. "Promise you'll stay. And mean it."

Pavel blinked at him. "You are joking, yes? This is one of your jokes that I don't get that you have to explain and then I still don't get."

"No. Dead serious. Promise, Pavel. I swear I will protect you if he strikes again, but somehow I don't think he will unless you try to leave again."

"Somehow, that does not make me want to stay, Hikaru," Pavel said flatly.

"Just _promise_ ," Hikaru said urgently. "Please, Pavel."

With a sigh and an under-his-breath "oy-yoy-yoy", Pavel licked his lips and said, "Okay. I promise I will not try to leave again. There, I say it. Now what?"

Almost immediately, Bisley's tentacle began to unfurl and moments later, Pavel was free. He stumbled away from Bisley and right into Hikaru's arms, but it wasn't Hikaru he was focused on. His eyes went right to Bisley, eying him with clear mistrust.

"Bad plant," he scolded.

"No, Pavel, he was only trying to... uh..." Hikaru trailed off and looked at Pavel, who looked at him expectantly. If Hikaru's hunch was correct, he wasn't sure he wanted Pavel to know about it.

"Trying to what, Hikaru?"

Hikaru gulped. He was holding Pavel again, his arms encircling Pavel's upper body, and Pavel was standing there in his arms, gripping his the front of his shirt, as though it was the most natural thing in the world. And suddenly Hikaru realized that, although his heart was racing, although his body was threatening to betray him in countless ways, although he felt like his stomach was filled with angry gerbils, holding Pavel like this did indeed feel completely natural. It wasn't weird. There was no guesswork, as Pavel seemed perfectly at home there. It felt _right_. That had to mean something.

Hikaru licked his lips and replied, "He was just looking out for me, Pavel."

"Oh." Pavel looked confused, eyes darting. "He was protecting you."

"Yes."

"From me?"

"Uh... sort of. Not quite. See, I tell him everything. About you. About you and me. About my feelings. I didn't realize he was sentient, I didn't realize he could process information and act on his thoughts like he just did. He was trying to keep you from leaving... because he knows I didn't want you to go."

Pavel blinked at him, stared at him with wide eyes and a slightly open mouth. And he was so lovely, all creamy skin, perfect, angular jaw and rosy cheeks. Whether he was shocked, giddy, terrified or pissed off at a plant, Pavel was beautiful.

There was no stopping himself this time; Hikaru leaned in and kissed Pavel's lips. A little whimper escaped Pavel upon impact, but he didn't pull away. In fact he released Hikaru's shirt and embraced him.

Hikaru wanted to explain further, to tell Pavel what he felt, but the kiss wouldn't stop. It became like a living thing, suddenly allowed to burn hot and bright after having been suppressed for so long. And when Hikaru deepened the kiss, out of pure instinct, Pavel followed suit, something seeming to come alive in Pavel too, some kind of need that had, apparently, also been forced to lie dormant all this time.

It was like some beast had woken inside Hikaru. Soon his mouth was opening wide, his tongue was demanding entry into Pavel's mouth, which it received without protest, and he was nudging Pavel back toward a nearby wall. He pressed Pavel up against the thick, sturdy glass, and Pavel groaned as he sucked Hikaru's tongue and began pulling at Hikaru's shirt.

Hikaru reluctantly broke the kiss and pulled his shirt off. He tossed it carelessly away and watched, mesmerized, as Pavel peeled off his own shirt, revealing that incredibly slender torso that Hikaru had seen so many times, had dreamed about too many times to count. Pavel's skin was moist with sweat; the slight dip between his flat breasts, the hollow below his Adam's apple, and his face were all glistening in the artificial sunlight. His eyes were sleepy and dark, and his lips seemed pinker, poutier. His bottom lip was just begging to be sucked.

Hikaru moved back into his arms and Pavel's hands slid down his back, gliding easily in the sweat there. Pavel gasped as Hikaru's lips and tongue made contact with his throat, licking at the salty sweat there. Pavel dropped his head back, offering his throat for Hikaru to kiss and lick and mark as he pleased, and as Hikaru pushed the hard ridge in his pants against Pavel's, Pavel pushed right back and moaned, _"Hikaruuuu..."_

Fuck. Hearing Pavel moan his name like that just about broke Hikaru's brain. He shuddered and whimpered as he began to rut against Pavel, pressing him more firmly against the glass wall. Pavel widened his stance and pushed back, the two of them finding their perfect rhythm and falling into it as though they'd done this a million times. Pavel clawed at Hikaru's sweaty back as he raised a leg and hooked it around Hikaru's hip. Hikaru's hand went down to that leg and gripped the thigh, hefting the leg's weight to make sure it stayed right there. The feeling that Pavel was clinging, trying to pull him closer, made Hikaru's hips move that much faster and rock that much harder. Soon they were both grunting in time with their rhythm, slipping against each other in their mingling sweat, and breathing hot, hard and fast, adding their combined and rapidly increasing heat and moisture to the already humid air.

There was so much Hikaru wanted to say. He wanted to tell Pavel about all the times he'd wanted to confess his feelings, all the times he'd dreamed about him, all the times he'd jerked off to thoughts of him. He wanted to tell him how beautiful he was, how loveable, how his body made Hikaru's mind go blank and made him fall involuntarily into a dopey, daydreamy state. But no words would come. His body was doing all the talking and there was no way to interrupt it.

The last straw, the one that sent Hikaru right over the edge, happened when Pavel's hands went up into his hair, his fingers gripping and holding on. It wasn't everyday you had someone else's hands in your hair and it should have felt odd, but it didn't. Pavel's hands belonged there as much as his own did. Hikaru's body knew it and expressed its pleasure by making Hikaru's dick erupt in his pants.

Hikaru pushed against Pavel harder, determined to draw an orgasm out of him, and he wasn't disappointed. Pavel's breathing took on that familiar quick, erratic cadence that often drove Hikaru mad in the middle of the night when Pavel, thinking Hikaru was asleep, would sometimes indulge in himself. Pavel's body quivered, his thrusts lost their steady rhythm and he, too, began to come hard in his pants.

The greenhouse filled with the hard, animal sounds of their lust. Hikaru's eyes focused for a moment and he caught a glimpse of Pavel's face; tilted upward, eyes closed, eyebrows arched upward in helpless ecstasy, and as Hikaru's eyes slipped out of focus once more and slid shut, noises he never thought in a million years he'd hear Pavel make followed him into the darkness behind his lids, noises that made his muscles twitch even as his orgasm petered out.

Pavel began to come down seconds after Hikaru already had. His leg became dead weight in Hikaru's hand and it fell back down, off Hikaru's hip. His body sagged against the glass, and it took everything Hikaru had to hold him up, but he managed it. He didn't dare let go. He never would again.

"Hikaru," Pavel whispered. Hikaru whimpered involuntarily at the breathy sound of his name on Pavel's lips and buried his face in Pavel's neck.

"Pavel," he panted. "My god, Pavel."

"Is this what... Bisley wanted? For us to do... this... here?"

Hikaru managed a weak laugh. "He knew I wanted you, that's all. I don't think he had any interest in watching us rub off on each other, if that's what you're asking."

He heard Pavel snicker and felt Pavel's arms tighten around him.

"I can see him from here," Pavel whispered. "Little green flowers blooming on him."

"What?" Hikaru forced himself to stand up a bit straighter and twisted around to look. Sure enough, the little bulbs all over Bisley's trunk were slowly opening, revealing tiny, bright green flowers, the color of Granny Smith apples. "Huh. He's never done that before."

"He is happy, I think."

Hikaru looked at Pavel and found him staring sleepily at him, a soft smile on his lips, a droplet of sweat gliding down the side of his face.

"His master is happy, so he is happy too."

Hikaru grinned. "You know what? I think you're right."

"You have smart plants, Hikaru," Pavel said, patting Hikaru's back, shutting his eyes and letting his face drop to the side. "Terrifying, but smart."

They finally disengaged and pulled their shirts back on over their damp skin. Pavel looked incredibly sexy, all moist and flushed and glowing and more relaxed than Hikaru had ever seen him. Pavel looked up, caught Hikaru staring and smiled at him, a kind of lazy, sexy smile that Hikaru had never seen on Pavel's face before. Hikaru suddenly realized that every instinct he had was now telling him, in no uncertain terms, to go to Pavel. He stepped close and, without hesitation, took Pavel's hand. No guesswork. No uncertainty.

"I have lots to tell you," Hikaru said as they strolled through the greenhouse toward the exit.

"Oh? Like what, Hikaru?"

"All the things I've been telling Bisley, I guess. I should've told you how I felt before now. We... we could've died on this ship so many times, and here I was spilling my guts to plants rather than to my best friend."

"You felt safe here. I understand. Besides, I didn't tell you how I felt either. I am no better."

"Okay, so we're both idiots. Perfect match, I'd say." Hikaru chuckled, and so did Pavel.

"So, what would you like to tell me first?" Pavel asked as Hikaru opened the greenhouse door and let him go out first. Hikaru had no idea where to start.

He glanced back into the greenhouse as he followed Pavel out. Bisley stood at its center, head slightly lowered, his tentacles all coiled up around him once more, his little apple-green blooms wide open and seeming to smile up at the artificial light. He looked almost like he was sleeping. Perhaps he was. His work was done, after all.

END


End file.
